What an utterly beautiful and romantic rose. I've loved reading about your connection with these ancient roses from the Middle East. It must give so much more meaning to your having these roses in your garden again. Your last photo is particularly evocative.

Wow !! That is spectacular!! I’ve never seen this rose in real life and would love to someday. You have a lovely garden there too . Just beautiful!

Oh what a glorious rose! Thanks for sharing with us. I wish we could smell it!

Gorgeous! Can't wait for mine to start!

Excellent!

All the buds were frozen off my new Isapahan. So I guess it will be another year before I can sniff it. Your Ispahan is dreamy. Ingrid says it much better than I can.

Yes, the bees could climb in there!

Noseometer: ouch!

I just checked my Isapahan, and there are some new buds! They weren't there yesterday (and yes, I checked very carefully). I'm totally excited.

Wow! I'm just sad that you can't send fragrance over the internet too.

I love your garden. I would be so tempted to spend all my waking hours out there right now.

Hi Ingrid! Thank you! I am so thankful that I am able to grow damask roses in my garden, it is wonderful being able to connect my cultural heritage with my love of gardening. I would not have even known what type of rose it was if it wasn’t for you and the other people on this forum.

Hi Lilyfinch! Thank you! I hope you get see it someday, it is a lovely sight!

Hi K S! Thank you! I wish I could share the smell instead of just the pictures.

Hi monarda! Thank you! I can’t wait to see pictures of your “Ispahan!” For some reason the bees are not too interested in the blooms of “Ispahan,” they are more interested in the autumn sage planted around it. I think it is because the bloom is very full so the stamens do not show too well. They seem to like my Candy Land rose though, because the stamens show really well when the bloom is fully open.

Hi Melissa! Thank you! I can't wait to see pictures of your "Ispahan" as well! Haha, I agree! I hope to get “Kazanlik” next year.

Hi Rene! Thank you!

Hi nosemeter! Thank you! I am so happy that your “Ispahan” has produced more blooms! I think you will like it a lot, it is a lovely rose!

Hi Kes! Thank you! I sure wish I could share the smell with you. Haha, since the shelter-in-place order I have been spending every waking hour in the garden, mainly trying to figure out where I can squeeze in more roses! : )

Have a lovely day everyone!

damask_rose : )

Oh, i wish i can grow those roses. They sure look so beautiful. Perhaps, one day I might take a trip to valley of roses and enjoy them tremendously. Ha, a dream come true ! ❤

Hi Plumeria Girl! Thank you! I hope you get to go on that trip someday. I'm sure when the time is right everything will work out. I was looking at pictures of the rose festival in Kazanlak, and it looks really beautiful.

Have a nice day!

damask_rose : )

Hello everyone! Here are a few more pictures of Ispahan:

Beautiful !! ❤

Alas, the buds of my Ispahan turned brown before they opened. Maybe next year.

Here, only half way to full bloom so far.

This is unfortunately what my Ispahan looks like, like all of my roses this year. First buds froze off in the late freeze. New buds grew but look like this. I’m not sure if there is anything I can do about this.

Oh that's sad Noseometer! I hope the later blooms normalize. :(

I do too hope things improve, Noseometer. These unpredictable weather problems can cause heartache.

I’m so sorry noseometer. Don’t worry too much, there’s always next year. Sometimes certain plants in my garden don’t do too well one year, but end up thriving the next. The blooms that you have are still very pretty though, and I bet they are going to smell great when they open.

Your Ispahan is gorgeous Sheila! Your whole garden is just beautiful; it looks like a Mediterranean dreamscape! I love it!

Thank you comtessedelacouche! The funny thing about my garden is that I had never really planned it out. My dad had planted our original garden and made it look very beautiful. I remember it from when I was a kid, we had lots of fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers (especially roses); it was like Heaven! Unfortunately when the drought came and we had to follow water restrictions nearly everything died. After the drought ended we have slowly been replanting the garden. I am an impulse buyer when it comes to plants, so when I see a plant at the nursery that I like for a decent price I get it first and then try to find a spot for it somewhere. My mom loves birdbaths and water fountains so we have a few of them throughout the garden, and we had some extra stepping stones lying around which ended up being perfect to use for the garden path. I hope to order some more antique roses next spring like the kinds that grew in my parents’ gardens in the Middle East, maybe some damasks and some species roses. When I can go the nurseries again I would like to plant some flowers to grow with the roses, like foxgloves and hollyhocks, and we ordered some clematis to climb up the patio trellis. Little by little the garden is returning to its former glory. I guess my plan is to make it look sort of like a Middle Eastern-cottage garden, or something along those lines : ). I hope it all comes together!

Have a nice day everyone!

damask_rose : )

Well, the miserable buds sat there for a week, but finally did open.

Although they aren't perfect, they aren't a total loss. Loose romantic blooms and a plant that clearly wants to grow! Not hugely fragrant, but I can't expect that from a first year bloom, and heck, at least I have flowers when I didn't think I'd have any. They aren't my idea of my perfect rose, but we shall see what happens next year.

Those are beautiful noseometer! It usually takes a week or two for my Ispahan to smell really strongly. Usually after the first heatwave the smell gets intoxicating, but before then the smell is good, but not too strong.

Very beautiful!

I find Ispahan to be one of the few once blooming European OGRs that thrives in my climate.